Solving Problems in Dynamics and Vibrations Using

MATLAB

Parasuram Harihara

And

Dara W. Childs

Dept of Mechanical Engineering

Texas A & M University
College Station.
 2

Contents

I. An Introduction to MATLAB(3)
1. Spring-Mass-Damper system(11)
2. Simple pendulum..(21)
3. Coulomb friction...(26)
4. Trajectory motion with aerodynamic drag....(30)
5. Pendulum with aerodynamic and viscous damping..(34)
6. A half cylinder rolling on a horizontal plane....(38)
7. A bar supported by a cord.(41)
8. Double pendulum..(50)
9. Frequency response of systems having more than one degree of freedom...(56)
10. A three bar linkage problem..(63)
11. Slider-Crank mechanism....(70)
12. A bar supported by a wire and a horizontal plane..(77)
13. Two bar linkage assembly supported by a pivot joint and a horizontal plane(84)
14. Valve Spring Model...........................................................................................(92)
 3

An Introduction to MATLAB

Purpose of the Handout

This handout was developed to help you understand the basic features of MATLAB and
also to help you understand the use of some basic functions. This is not a comprehensive
tutorial for MATLAB. To learn more about a certain function, you should use the online
help. For example, if you want to know more about the function solve, then type the
following command in the command window at the prompt:

help solve

Introduction

MATLAB is a high performance language for technical computing. The name MATLAB
stands for matrix laboratory. Some of the typical uses of MATLAB are given below:

Math and Computation

Algorithm Development
Modeling, Simulation and Prototyping

M-Files

Files that contain code in MATLAB language are called M-Files. You create a M-File
using a text editor and then use them as you would any other MATLAB function or
command. But before using the user defined functions always make sure that the path is
set to the current directory. There are two kinds of M-Files:

Scripts, which do not accept input arguments or return output arguments.

Functions, which can accept input and output arguments.

When you invoke a script MATLAB simply executes the commands found in the file.
For example, create a file called SumOfNumbers that contains these commands:

% To find the sum of first 10 natural numbers

n = 0;
i = 1;
for i=1:10;
n = n + i;
i = i + 1;
end
n

Go to the command window and set the path to the current directory. Then typing
 4

SumOfNumbers

at the command prompt causes MATLAB to execute the commands in the M-File and
print out the value of the sum of the first 10 natural numbers.

Functions are dealt in detail later in the handout.

Matrices

Suppose you have to enter a 2x2 identity matrix in MATLAB. Type the following
command in the command window:

A=[1 0; 0 1]

MATLAB displays the matrix you just entered

A=
1 0
0 1

The basic conventions you need to follow are as follows:

Separate the elements in the row with blanks or commas

Use a semicolon, (;) to indicate the end of each row
Surround the entire list of elements with square brackets, [].

There are many other ways of representing matrices, but the above-mentioned method is
one of the popularly used methods. To know more about the different types of
representation, go through the online help or the MATLAB user guide.

Suppose, you want to separate out the first column in the above matrix and use it for
some other calculation, then type the following in the MATLAB command window.

Y=A(:,1)

Here Y contains the elements of the first column. Y is a 2x1 matrix. Note that the colon
in the above expression indicates that MATLAB will consider all rows and 1 indicates
the first column. Similarly if you want to separate the second row then type the following
command

T=A(2,:)

Solving Linear Equations

Suppose for example, you have to solve the following linear equations for x and y.
 5

x 2y 6
x y 0

There are two methods to solve the above-mentioned linear simultaneous equations.

The first method is to use matrix algebra and the second one is to use the MATLAB
command solve.

Matrix Algebra

Representing the above two equations in the matrix form, we get

1 2 x 6
1 1 y 0

The above equation is in the form of

AX B

where A is known as the coefficient matrix, X is called the variable matrix and B, the
constant matrix.

To solve for X, we find the inverse of the matrix A (provided the inverse exits) and then
pre-multiply the inverse to the matrix B i.e.,

X A 1 B

The MATLAB code for the above-mentioned operations is as shown below. Open a new
M-File and type in the following commands in the file.

% To solve two simultaneous linear equations.

A = [1 2;1 1];
B = [6;0];
X = inv (A)*B

Before executing the program, always remember to set the path to the current directory.
Note that the first statement is preceded by a % symbol. This symbol indicates that the
statement following the symbol is to be regarded as a comment statement. Also note that
if you put a semicolon ; after each statement, then the value of that statement is not
printed in the command window. Since we require MATLAB to print the value of X,
the semicolon does not follow the last statement.
 6

Solve Command

The solve command is a predefined function in MATLAB. The code for solving the
above equations using the solve command is as shown. Open a new M-File and type the
following code.

% To solve the linear equations using the solve command

p = x + 2*y = 6;
q = x y = 0;
[x,y] = solve(p,q)

Subs Command

This command is explained by means of the following example. Suppose you want to
solve the following linear equations:

x 2y a 6
x y a

Note that there are three unknown and only two equations. So we are required to solve
for x and y in terms of a. To calculate the numerical values of x and y for
different values of a, we use the subs command.

The following MATLAB code is used to demonstrate the subs command.

% To solve the linear equations using the subs command

p = x + 2*y = a + 6
q = x y = a
[x,y] = solve(p,q)

a = 0;
[x] = subs(x)
[y] = subs(y)

Here the solve command solves for the values of x and y in terms of a. Then a is
assigned the value of 0. Then we substitute the assigned value of a in x and y to get
the numerical value.

Suppose a varies from 1 to 10 and we need to find the value of x and y for each value
of a then use the following code:

% To solve the linear equations using the subs command

 7

p = x + 2*y = a + 6
q = x y = a
[x,y] = solve(p,q)

i = 0;
for a = 1:10
t(i) = subs(x);
p(i) = subs(y);
i = i + 1 ;
end

In the above code t(i) and p(i) contains the values of x and y for different values of a
respectively.

Functions

Functions are M-Files that can accept input arguments and return output arguments. The
name of the M-File and the function should be the same. Functions operate on variables
within their own workspace, separate from the workspace you access at the MATLAB
command prompt. The following example explains the use of functions in more detail.

Define a new function called hyperbola in a new M-File.

Function y = twice(x)
y = 2*x;

Now in a new M-file plot y with respect to x for different values of x. The code is as
shown below

x = 1:10
y = twice(x)
plot(x,y)

Basically the function twice takes the values of x, multiplies it by 2 and then stores each
value in y. The plot function plots the values of y with respect to x.

To learn more about the use of functions, go through the user guide.

Hold Command

HOLD ON holds the current plot and all axis properties so that subsequent graphing
commands add to the existing graph. HOLD OFF returns to the default mode whereby
PLOT commands erase the previous plots and reset all axis properties before drawing
new plots.

One can also just use the Hold command, which toggles the hold state. To use this
command, one should use a counter in connection with an if loop; which first toggles
 8

the hold on state and then the counter must be incremented such that, the flow of
command does not enter the if loop.

% Example to show the use of the hold command

counter = 0;

if (counter ==0)
hold;
end

counter = counter + 1;

Here the hold command is executed only if the value of the counter is equal to zero. In
this way we can make sure that the plots are held. The drawback of this procedure is that
we cannot toggle the hold to off.

Plotting Techniques

The plot function has different forms depending on the input arguments. For example, if
y is a vector, plot (y) produces a linear graph of the elements of y versus the index of the
elements of y. If you specify two vectors as arguments, plot (x,y) produces a graph of y
versus x.

Whenever a plot is drawn, titles and a labels for the x axis and y axis are required. This
is achieved by using the following command.

To include a title for a plot use the following command

title (Title)

For the x and y labels, use

xlabel( label for the x-axis)

ylabel(label for the y-axis)

Always remember to plot the data with the grid lines. You can include the grid lines to
your current axes by including the following command in your code.

grid on

For more information about various other plotting techniques, type

help plot

in the command window.

 9

Suppose one wants to change the color of the curve in the plot to magenta, then use the
following command

plot (x,y,m)

m is the color code for magenta. There are various other color codes like r for red, y
for yellow, b for blue etc.

The following example makes use of the above-mentioned commands to plot two
different data in the same plot. The MATLAB code is given below.

x=0:0.1:10;
y1 = x.*2;
y2 = x.*3;
plot(x,y1)
hold on
plot(x,y2,'-.')
grid on
xlabel('x')
ylabel('y')
title('X Vs Y')
legend('y1','y2')

When you run the above code, you will get the following plot.

In order to save the plot as a JPEG file, click the file icon in the figure window and then
click the export command. In the save as type option select *.jpg. In order to import
the file in MS word, go to Insert icon and then select Picture from file command.
 10

Figure Command

Suppose you want to plot two different vectors in two different windows, use the figure
command. The example given below illustrates the use of the figure command.

% to illustrate the figure command

x=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10];
y=[12 23 4 5 65 67 89];

figure(1)
plot(x)
grid
title('plot of X')

figure(2)
plot(y)
grid
title('plot of Y')

The above code will plot the values of x and y in two different figure windows. If you
want to know more about the command type the following at the command prompt.

help figure
 11

1. Spring Mass Damper System Unforced Response

k c

Example

Solve for five cycles, the response of an unforced system given by the equation
.. .
m x c x kx 0 (1)

.
For = 0.1; m = 1 kg; k = 100 N/m; x (0) = 0.02 m; x (0) = 0;

Solution

The above equation is a second order constant-coefficient differential equation. To solve

this equation we have to reduce it into two first order differential equations. This step is
taken because MATLAB uses a Runge-Kutta method to solve differential equations,
which is valid only for first order equations.

Let
.
xv (2)

From the above expression we see that

.
m v cv kx 0

so the equation (1) reduces to

. c k
v [( )v ( ) x ] (3)
m m

We can see that the second order differential equation (1) has been reduced to two first
order differential equations (2) and (3).
 12

For our convenience, put

x = y (1);
.
x v y (2);

Equations (2) and (3) reduce to

.
y (1) = y (2); (4)
.
y (2) = [(-c/m)*y (2) (k/m)*y (1)]; (5)

To calculate the value of c, compare equation (1) with the following generalized
equation.
.. .
x 2 n x n 0
2

Equating the coefficients of the similar terms we have

c
2 n (6)
m
k
n2 (7)
m

Using the values of m and k, calculate the different values of c corresponding to

each value of . Once the values of c are known, equations (4) and (5) can be solved
using MATLAB.

The problem should be solved for five cycles. In order to find the time interval, we first
need to determine the damped period of the system.

Natural frequency n = (k / m) = 10 rad/sec.

For = 0.1
Damped natural frequency d = n 1
2
= 9.95 rad/sec.
Damped time period Td = 2/d = 0.63 sec.

Therefore for five time cycles the interval should be 5 times the damped time period, i.e.,
3.16 sec.
 13

MATLAB Code

In order to apply the ODE45 or any other numerical integration procedure, a separate
function file must be generated to define equations (4) and (5). Actually, the right hand
side of equations (4) and (5) are what is stored in the file. The equations are written in the
form of a vector.

The MATLAB code is given below.

function yp = unforced1(t,y)
yp = [y(2);(-((c/m)*y(2))-((k/m)*y(1)))]; (8)

Open a new M-file and write down the above two lines. The first line of the function file
must start with the word function and the file must be saved corresponding to the
function call; i.e., in this case, the file is saved as unforced1.m. The derivatives are stored
in the form of a vector.

This example problem has been solved for = 0.1. We need to find the value of c/m
and k/m so that the values can be substituted in equation (8). Substituting the values of
and n in equations (6) and (7) the values of c/m and k/m can be found out. After
finding the values, substitute them into equation (8).

Now we need to write a code, which calls the above function and solves the differential
equation and plots the required result. First open another M-file and type the following
code.

tspan=[0 4];
y0=[0.02;0];
[t,y]=ode45('unforced1',tspan,y0);
plot(t,y(:,1));
grid on
xlabel(time)
ylabel(Displacement)
title(Displacement Vs Time)
hold on;

The ode45 command in the main body calls the function unforced1, which defines the
systems first order derivatives. The response is then plotted using the plot command.
tspan represents the time interval and y0 represents the initial conditions for y(1) and
y(2) which in turn represent the displacement x and the first derivative of x. In this
example, the initial conditions are taken as 0.02 m for x and 0 m/sec for the first
derivative of x.

MATLAB uses a default step value for the vector tspan. In order to change the step size
use the following code

tspan=0:0.001:4;
 14

This tells MATLAB that the vector tspan is from 0 to 4 with a step size of 0.001. This
example uses some arbitrary step size. If the step size is too small, the plot obtained will
not be a smooth curve. So it is always better to use relatively larger step size. But it also
takes longer to simulate programs with larger step size. So you have to decide which is
the best step size you can use for a given problem.

In order to solve for different values of , calculate the values of c/m for each value of
. Substitute each value of in the function file, which has the derivatives, save the file
and then run the main program to view the result. This process might be too tedious. The
code can be made more efficient by incorporating a For loop for the various values of
zeta.

In the above code y(:,1) represents the displacement x. To plot the velocity, change the
variable in the plot command line to y(:,2).

The plot is attached below

 15

Assignment

Solve for six cycles the response of an unforced system given by

.. .
m x c x kx 0

For = {0, 0.1 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0}.

.
Take m = 5 kg; k = 1000 N/m; x(0) = 5 cms; x (0) = 0;

Develop a plot for the solutions corresponding to the seven values and comment on the
plots obtained.

Note: When you save the M-File, make sure that the name of the file does not
coincide with any of the variables used in the MATLAB code.
 16

Spring Mass Damper System Forced Response

fsint

k c

Example

Plot the response of a forced system given by the equation

.. .
m x c x kx f sin t (1)

.
For = 0.1; m = 1 kg; k = 100 N/m; f = 100 N; = 2n; x(0) = 2 cms; x (0) = 0.

Solution

The above equation is similar to the unforced system except that it has a forcing function.
To solve this equation we have to reduce it into two first order differential equations.
Again, this step is taken because MATLAB uses a Runge-Kutta method to solve
differential equations, which is valid only for first order equations.

Let
.
xv (2)

so the above equation reduces to

. f c k
v [( ) sin t ( )v ( ) x] (3)
m m m

We can see that the second order differential equation has been reduced to two first order
differential equations.
 17

For our convenience, put

x = y (1);
.
x v y (2);

Equations (2) and (3) then reduce to

.
y (1) = y (2);
.
y (2) = [(f/m)*sin( * t) + (-c/m)*y (2) (k/m)*y (1)];

Again, to calculate the value of c, compare equation (1) with the following generalized
equation
.. .
x 2 n x n f sin t
2

Equating the coefficients of the similar terms we have

c
2 n
m
k
n2
m

Using the values of m and k, calculate the different values of c corresponding to

each value of .

To find the time interval the simulation should run, we first need to find the damped time
period.

Natural frequency n = (k / m) = 10 rad/sec.

For = 0.1;
Damped natural frequency d = n 1 = 9.95 rad/sec.
2

Damped time period Td = 2/d = 0.63 sec.

Therefore, for five time cycles the interval should be 5 times the damped time period, i.e.,
3.16 sec. Since the plots should indicate both the transient and the steady state response,
the time interval will be increased.
 18

MATLAB Code

The MATLAB code is similar to that written for the unforced response system, except
that there is an extra term in the derivative vector, which represents the force applied to
the system.

The MATLAB code is given below.

function yp = forced(t,y)
yp = [y(2);(((f/m)*sin(*t))-((c/m)*y(2))-((k/m)*y(1)))];

Again the problem is to be solved for = 0.1. So, calculate the value of c/m, k/m and
f /m by following the procedure mentioned in the earlier example and then substitute
these values into the above expression. Save the file as forced.m.

The following code represents the main code, which calls the function and solves the
differential equations and plots the required result.

tspan=[0 5];
y0=[0.02;0];
[t,y]=ode45('forced',tspan,y0);
plot(t,y(:,1));
grid on
xlabel(time)
ylabel(Displacement)
title(Displacement Vs Time)
hold on;

Again, tspan represents the time interval and y0 represents the initial conditions for
y(1) and y(2) which in turn represent the displacement x and the first derivative of x.
In this example the initial conditions are taken as 0.02 m for x and 0 cm/sec for the first
derivative of x. Again the default step size of the vector tspan can be changed
accordingly as explained in the previous example.

To solve for different values of , calculate the values of c/m for each value of .
Substitute each value of in the function file, which has the derivatives, save the file and
then run the main program to view the result.

In the above code y(:,1) represents the displacement x. To plot the velocity, change the
variable in the plot command line to y(:,2).

The plot is attached below.

19
 20

Assignment

Plot the response of a forced system given by the equation

.. .
m x c x kx f sin t
For = {0, 0.1 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0}.
.
Take m = 5 kg; k = 1000 N/m; f = 50 N; = 4n, x(0) = 5 cms; x (0) = 0.

Develop a plot for the solutions corresponding to the seven values and comment on the
plots obtained.
 21

2. Simple Pendulum

Example

Compute and plot the linear response of a simple pendulum having a mass of 10 grams
.
and a length of 5 cms. The initial conditions are (0) = 90 and (0) 0
Also compare the generated plot with the nonlinear plot.

Solution

The differential equation of motion for the simple pendulum without any damping is
given by
.. g
( ) sin
l

If we consider the system to be linear, i.e., for small angles,

sin

So the linearized version of the above non-linear differential equation reduces to

.. g
( )
l

The above equation is a second order, constant-coefficient differential equation. In order

to use MATLAB to solve it, we have to reduce it to two first order differential equations
as MATLAB uses a Runge-kutta method to solve differential equations, which is
applicable only for first order differential equations.

Let
y (1)
.
y (2)
 22

When the values of theta and the first derivative of theta are substituted in the second
order linearized differential equation, we get the following two first order differential
equation:
.
y (1) y (2)
.
y (2) ( g / l ) y (1)

For a nonlinear system,

sin

The second order non-linear differential equation reduces to the following, two first order
differential equation:
.
y (1) y (2)
.
y (2) ( g / l ) sin( y (1))

MATLAB Code

The MATLAB code is written following the procedure adopted to solve the spring-mass-
damper system. For the linear case the function file is saved as linear.m.

function yp = linear(t,y)
yp = [y(2);((-g/l) *(y(1)))];

In this example, the value of l is chosen to be 5 cms. So the value of g/l turns out to be
196.2 per square second. Note that since the mass and the length are expressed in grams
and centimeters respectively, the value of the acceleration due to gravity g is taken to be
981 cms per square second. Substitute this value in the above MATLAB code.

For the nonlinear case, open a new M-file to write a separate function file for the
nonlinear differential equation. In this case the function file is saved as nonlinear.m.

function yp = nonlinear(t,y)
yp = [y(2);((-g/l) *sin(y(1)))];

The main code should be written in a separate M-file, which will actually call the above
function files, solve the derivatives stored in them and plot the required result.

tspan = [0 5];
y0 = [1.57;0];
[t,y] = ode45('linear',tspan,y0)
 23

plot(t,y(:,1))
grid on;
xlabel(Time)
ylabel(Theta)
title(Theta Vs Time)
hold on;

tspan represents the time interval and y0 represents the initial condition. Note that the
value of in the initial conditions must be expressed in radians.

Now run the code for the linearized version of the simple pendulum. A plot of theta
versus time will be obtained. The hold command in the code freezes the plot obtained.
This command is used so that the nonlinear version can also be plotted in the same graph.
After running the program for the linear version, change the name of the function in the
third line of the main code from linear to nonlinear. By doing this, the Ode45
command will now solve the nonlinear differential equations and plot the result in the
same graph. To differentiate between the linear and the non-linear curve, use a different
line style.

The plots of the responses are attached. From the plots we can see that the time period for
the non linear equation is greater than that of the linear equation.

To plot the angular velocity with respect to time change the variable in the plot
command line in the main code from y(:,1) to y(:,2). This is done because initially we
assigned y(1) to theta and y(2) to the first derivative of theta.
24
 25

Assignment

a) Compute and plot the response of a simple pendulum with viscous damping whose
equation of motion is given by

.. .
ml 2 c mgl 0

Compute the value of the damping coefficients for = 0.1.The initial conditions are
.
(0) = {15, 30, 45, 60, 90} and (0) 0 . M = 10 g ; l = 5 cms.

b) Compare the generated plot with Non-linear plot for each value of (0).
What do you infer from the plots obtained?

c) Plot the natural frequency of the nonlinear solution versus initial condition (0).

(Note: Plot the linear and the nonlinear curve in the same plot. Remember to convert the
initial values of theta given in degrees, to radians.)

Also make sure that the difference between the linear and the non-linear responses can be
clearly seen from the plot. If necessary use the zoom feature in order to show the
difference.
 26

3. Coulomb Friction

Example
.
Solve the following differential equation for 0 .
. 2
(1 sin ) cos [cos (1 ) sin ]
.. g 2

d d l d d
.
d ={0, 0.1,0.2}; l 0.25m . (0) 0; (0) 0

Solution

As explained earlier, to solve the above differential equation by MATLAB, reduce it into
two first order differential equations.

Let y (1)
.
y (2)

The above equation reduces to

.
y (1) y (2)
. g 1
y (2) {cos( y (1))[1 d ] d sin( y (1))} { d cos( y (1))( y (2)^ 2)}
2

l (1 d sin( y (1))) l (1 d sin( y (1)))

MATLAB Code

A M-file must be written to store the derivatives. In this case the file is saved as
coulomb.m.

function yp =coulomb(t,y)
g=9.81;
mu=0;
l=0.25;
k1=1+mu*sin(y(1));
k2=mu*cos(y(1))*(y(2)^2);
k3=cos(y(1))*(1-mu^2);
k4=mu*sin(y(1));
yp=[y(2);((g/l)*((k3-k4)/k1)-(k2/k1))]
 27

Type the following code in a new M-file.

tspan=[0 2]
y0=[0;0]
[t,y]=ode45('coulomb',tspan,y0)
plot(t,y(:,1))
grid
xlabel(Time)
ylabel(Theta)
title(Theta Vs Time)
hold on;

This main file calls the function coulomb.m to solve the differential equations. Tspan
represents the time interval and y0 represents the initial condition vector. To plot the
results for different values of , change the value of in the function file, save it and then
run the main code.

The vector y(:,1) represents the values of theta at the various time instants and the
vector y(:,2) gives the values of the angular velocities. To plot the angular velocity,
change the variable in the plot command line in the main code from y (:,1) to y(:,2).
Also plot the angular velocity with respect to theta.

The plots are attached. From the plots it can be seen that by increasing the value of the

coulomb damping constant the system takes more time to reach and the maximum
2
value of the angular velocity also decreases.
28
 29

Assignment

.
Solve the following differential equation for 0 .
. 2
(1 sin ) cos [cos (1 ) sin ]
.. g 2

d d l d d
.
d ={0, 0.05,0.1,0.15,0.2}; l 0.5m . (0) / 2; (0) 0

a) Plot the maximum value of angular velocity and maximum value of theta with respect
to
.
b) Is the differential equation valid for 0 . If not, what is the correct equation?
c) Analytically confirm the angular velocity predictions for = 0.0 and = 0.2.
d) Comment on the results obtained.
 30

4. Trajectory Motion with Aerodynamic Drag

Example

Solve the following differential equations for c d ={0.1, 0.3,0.5} N/m.

.. . . .
m x c d x( x 2 y 2 ) (1 / 2 ) 0
.. . . .
m y c d y ( x 2 y 2 ) (1 / 2) w

. .
m = 10 kg. x(0) 100 m/s; y (0) 10 m/s; x(0) = 0; y(0) = 0.

Solution

As explained earlier, to solve the above two differential equations, we have to reduce
each of them into two first order differential equations.

So Let

x y (1)
.
x y (2)

y y (3)
.
y y (4)

The above equations reduce to the following first order differential equations.

.
y (1) y (2)
1
y (2) ( cd ) * y (2) * [ y (2) 2 y (4) 2 ] 2
.

m
.
y (3) y (4)
w
1
) ( cd ) * y (4) * [ y (2) 2 y (4) 2 ] 2
.
y (4) (
m m
 31

MATLAB Code

Type the following code in a separate m-file. As mentioned earlier, the system
derivatives must be written in a separate m-file. Since the name of the function is
airdrag, save the m-file as airdrag.m in the current directory.

function yp = airdrag(t,y)
m = 10;
cd = 0.2;
g = 9.81;
w = m*g;
yp = zeros(4,1);
yp(1) = y(2);
yp(2) = ((-cd/m)*y(2)*(y(2)^2+y(4)^2)^(0.5));
yp(3) = y(4);
yp(4) = ((-w/m)-(cd/m)*y(4)*(y(2)^2+y(4)^2)^(0.5));

Open a new m-file and type the following code for the main program. This program calls
the function airdrag.m in order to solve the differential equations. Again tspan
represents the time interval and y0 represents the initial condition vector. The plots have
to be drawn between the displacement in the x direction and the displacement in the y
direction. Refer to the handout Introduction to MATLAB for the explanation about
using the hold command with the help of a counter variable.

tspan=[0 5];
y0=[0;100;0;10]
[t,y]=ode45('airdrag',tspan,y0);
plot(y(:,1),y(:,3))
grid
xlabel(X-Displacement)
ylabel(Y-Displacement)
title(X vs Y Displacement)
hold on;

It can be seen from the plots that as the coefficient of the aerodynamic drag is increased
the maximum value of the displacement in the y direction decreases. The value of the
displacement in the x direction, for which the displacement in the y direction is
maximum, also decreases. Here the plots have been zoomed to the current version so that
the difference in the curves could be seen clearly.
32
 33

Assignment

Solve the following differential equations for c d ={0.0, 0.1,0.2,0.3} N/m.

.. . . .
m x c d x( x 2 y 2 ) (1 / 2 ) 0
.. . . .
m y c d y ( x 2 y 2 ) (1 / 2) w

. .
m = 5 kg. x(0) 10 m/s; y (0) 200 m/s; x(0) = 0; y(0) = 0.

a) Plot separately the maximum range and the maximum elevation with respect the
damping coefficient, Cd.
b) Analytically confirm the results for Cd = 0.
c) Comment on the results obtained.
 34

5. Pendulum with Aerodynamic and Viscous Damping

Example

Solve the following non-linear differential equation with aerodynamic damping

.. g C .2 .
sin a sgn( ) 0 (1)
l ml
and compare it with the following linearized differential equation with viscous damping

cd 0
.. . g
(2)
m l
.
m = 10 g; l = 5 cms; Ca = Cd = 14 ; (0) 1.57; (0) 0.
(Note: The initial value of theta is given in radians.)

Solution

As mentioned earlier, to solve the above differential equations, convert them into two
first order differential equations.

Let

y (1)
.
y (2)

Equation (2) becomes

.
y (1) y (2) (3)

y (2) ( ) * ( y (1)) ( cd ) * ( y (2))

. g
(4)
l m

Similarly equation (1) becomes

.
y (1) y (2) (5)

y (2) ( ) * sin( y (1)) ( cd ) * ( y (2)^ 2) sgn( y (2))

. g
(6)
l ml

MATLAB Code

In this example, we are required to solve two separate problems, i.e., a pendulum with
aerodynamic drag and a pendulum with viscous damping. So, we have to write two
separate M-files, pendulum1.m, which contains the derivatives of the problem with
aerodynamic drag and pendulum2.m, which contains the derivatives of the problem
with viscous damping.
 35

Open a new m-file and type the following code which contains equations (5) and (6).
Note that the derivatives are represented in the form of a vector. Also note that the
signum function, sgn has to be written as sign in MATLAB.

function yp = pendulum1(t,y)
m=10;
g=981;
l=5;
Ca=14;
yp=[y(2);((-g/l)*sin(y(1))-Ca/(m*l)*(y(2)^2)*sign(y(2)))];

In a new m-file type in the following main program, which calls the function, named
pendulum1.m and solves the non-linear differential equation and plots it.

tspan=[0 10];
y0=[1.57;0]
[t,y]=ode45('pendulum1',tspan,y0);
plot(t,y(:,1));grid
xlabel(Time)
ylabel(Theta)
title(Theta Vs Time)
hold on;

Open a new m-file type the following code. This file contains equations (3) and (4).

function yp = pendulum2(t,y)
m=10;
g=981;
l=5;
Ca=14;
yp=[y(2);((-g/l)*(y(1))-(Ca/m)*(y(2)))];

In a new m-file type the following main program. This code calls the function and solves
the linearized differential equation and plots it.

tspan=[0 10];
y0=[1.57;0]
[t,y]=ode45('pendulum2',tspan,y0);
plot(t,y(:,1));grid
xlabel(Time)
ylabel(Theta)
title(Theta Vs Time)
hold on;

As mentioned in the earlier examples, tspan represents the time interval and y0
represents the initial condition vector. The vector y(:,1) gives the values of theta at the
 36

various time instants and the vector y(:,2) gives the values of the angular velocity. To
plot the angular velocity, change the variable y(:,1) in the plot command line to y(:,2).

From the plots it can be seen that, quadratic damping causes a rapid initial amplitude
reduction but is less effective as time increases and amplitude decreases. Whereas, linear
damping is less effective initially but is more effective as time increases.
 37

Assignment

a) Solve the following non-linear differential equation with aerodynamic damping

.. g C .2 .
sin a sgn( ) 0 (1)
l ml
and compare it with the following linearized differential equation with viscous damping

cd 0
.. . g
(2)
m l
.
m = 5 g; l = 10 cms; Ca = Cd = 140; (0) 0.5233; (0) 0.

Show the results in the same plot.

b) Comment on the results obtained. Assuming a harmonic motion, i.e., = A cos(nt),

for what amplitude A, are the linear and the non-linear damping moments equal? Also
confirm the result from the plot obtained.
 38

6. A Half Cylinder rolling on a Horizontal Plane

Example

The general governing differential equation of motion of the above problem is

3mr 2 .. . 2
( 2mer sin ) mer cos we cos . (1)
2
4r
Solve the above differential equation for m = 5 Kg; e m; r = 0.1 m.
3

Solution

To solve the differential equation, convert the equation into two first order differential
equation.

With

y (1);
.
y (2);

Equation (1) reduces to the following equations

.
y (1) y (2);
. [ we cos( y (1)) mer cos( y (1))( y (2)^ 2)]
y (2)
[1.5mr ^ 2 2mer sin( y (1))]

MATLAB Code

The function file tofro.m contains the systems derivatives in the form of a vector.

function yp = tofro(t,y)
m=5;
r=0.1;
e=(4*r)/(3*pi);
g=9.81;
yp=[y(2);((m*g)*e*cos(y(1))+m*e*r*cos(y(1))*(y(2)^2))/(1.5*
m*r*r-2*m*e*r*sin(y(1)))]

The main code, which is given below calls the function tofro.m, which contains the
system differential equation and plots the displacement with respect to time. Since there
is no damping present, the plot resembles a sinusoid of constant amplitude.
 39

tspan=[0 4];
y0=[0.5233;0];
[t,y]=ode45('tofro',tspan,y0);
plot(t,y(:,1));grid
xlabel(Time)
ylabel(Beta)
title(Beta Vs Time)

The plot is attached below.

 40

Assignment

4r
a) Solve the differential equation given in the example for m = 10 Kg; e m; r = 0.2
3
m. Plot with respect to time. Compare the result with that obtained in the example and
comment on the result.

b) Determine the equilibrium value of .

c) Linearize the differential equation for small motion about the equilibrium value and
determine the natural frequency for the small motion. Also plot the value of the with
respect to time. Note that for plotting the value of , you have to solve the linearized
differential equation.
d) Compare the natural frequency of the linearized model to that produced by the non-
linear model.
 41

7. A bar supported by a cord

Derive the governing differential equation of motion of a swinging bar supported at its
ends by a cord. Calculate the eigen values and the eigen vectors. Solve the derived
differential equation and plot the initial response of the system for the following initial
conditions:
a) Arbitrary initial condition
b) Initial condition vector proportional to the eigen vector.
Choose l1 = 1m; l2 = 1m; m2 = 5Kg

l1

l2 , m2

The differential equations of motion for the above system when represented in a matrix
form is

.

m2 l 2 cos( ) .. m l 2
sin( )
m2 l1 w sin 2 2
2 2
2
..
m2 l1l 2 cos( )
2 2
m2 l 2 .
w l sin m l l sin( )

2 2 2 1 2
2 3
2

Eliminating the second order terms in the above equation gives the linear equation

2 m2 l 2 l1 ..
m2 l1 l w 0
2 1 2
w2 l 2 0
2
m2 l 2 .. 0
m2 l1l 2 2
2 3

Note that the inertia matrix has been made symmetric via a multiplication of the first row
by l1.
 42

MATLAB Code

To find the eigen values and the eigen vectors

To find the eigen values and the eigen vectors, the linearized version of the model is
used. The mass of the bar was considered to be 5 Kg and the length of the cord and the
bar to be 1m. The MATLAB code is given below.

% to find the eigen values and the eigen vectors.

l1=1;
l2=1;
m2=5;
g=9.81;
w2=m2*g;
M=[m2*l1^2 (m2*l1*l2)/2;(m2*l1*l2)/2 (m2*l1^2)/3];
K=[l1*w2 0;0 (w2*l2)/2];

[v,d]=eig(K,M)

The columns v represent the eigen vectors corresponding to each eigen value d.
M represents the inertia matrix and K represents the stiffness matrix. The square root
of the eigen values gives the natural frequencies of the system.

The eigen values were found to be 6.2892 and 91.8108 and the corresponding eigen
0.6661 0.4885
vectors were and respectively.
0.7458 0.8726

Initial response

To plot the initial response of the system the original nonlinear differential equation has
to be used. Moreover the second order differential equation has to be converted into a
vector of first order differential equation. This step is done by following the procedure
given below.

y (1);
.
y (2);
y (3);
.
y (4);

Substituting the above relations in the original nonlinear differential equation, we get the
following nonlinear first order differential equation, which when represented in matrix
form is
 43

y (2)
1 0 0 0 y (.1)
m2 l 2 cos( y (3) y (1)) . w sin m2 l 2 sin( y (3) y (1))
2

0 m2 l1 0
2 y (2) 2 2
0 0 1 0 . y ( 4)
y (3)
m2 l1l 2 cos( y (3) y (1)) . 2
2
0 m2 l 2 . w2 l 2 sin m2 l1l 2 sin( )
0
2 3 y (4)
2

MATLAB Code

In this type of a problem where the inertia matrix (mass matrix) is a function of the states
or the variables, a separate M-file has to be written which incorporates a switch/case
programming with a flag case of mass.

For example if the differential equation is of the form,

M (t, y) *y (t)=F (t, y),

then the right hand side of the above equation has to be stored in a separate m-file called
F.m. Similarly the inertia matrix (mass matrix) should also be stored in a separate m-file
named M.m. So, when the flag is set to the default, the function F.m is called and later
when the flag is set to mass the function M.m is called.

The code with the switch/case is given below. Note that it is a function file and should be
saved as indmot_ode.m in the current directory.

function varargout=indmot_ode(t,y,flag)

switch flag
case '' %no input flag
varargout{1}=FF(t,y);
case 'mass' %flag of mass calls mass.m
varargout{1}=MM(t,y);
otherwise
error(['unknown flag ''' flag '''.']);
end

To store the right hand side of the original matrix form of differential equation, a separate
function file must be written as shown below. Note that the name of the function is FF,
so this file must be saved as FF.m.

%the following function contains the right hand side of the

%differential equation of the form
%M(t,y)*y'=F(t,y)
 44

%i.e. it contains F(t,y).it is also stored in a separate

file named, FF.m.

function yp=FF(t,y)
l1=1;
l2=1;
m2=5;
g=9.81;
w2=m2*g;
yp=zeros(4,1);
yp(1)=y(2);
yp(2)=-w2*sin(y(1))+ (m2*l2/2)*(y(4)^2)*sin(y(3)-y(1));
yp(3)=y(4);
yp(4)=(-w2*l2*sin(y(3)))/2+(m2*l1*l2/2)*(y(2)^2)*sin(y(3)-
y(1));

Similarly, to store the mass matrix a separate function file is written which is stored as
MM.m.

% the following function contains the mass matrix.

%it is separately stored in a file named, MM.m

function n = MM(t,y)
l1=1;
l2=1;
m2=5;
g=9.81;
w2=m2*g;
n1=[1 0 0 0];
n2=[0 m2*l1 0 (m2*l2/2)*cos(y(3)-y(1))];
n3=[0 0 1 0];
n4=[0 (m2*l1*l2/2)*cos(y(3)-y(1)) 0 m2*l2*l2/3];
n=[n1;n2;n3;n4];

To plot the response, the main file should call the function indmot_ode.m, which has
the switch/case programming which in turn calls the corresponding functions depending
on the value of the flag. For the main file to recognize the inertia matrix, the MATLAB
command ODESET is used to set the mass to M (t, y).

This MATLAB code for the main file should be written in the same M-file, following the
code to solve for the eigen values and eigen vectors.
 45

tspan=[0 30]

y0=[0.5233;0;1.0467;0] % Arbitrary Initial condition

x01=[v(1,1);0;v(2,1);0] % Low Frequency mode initial
Condition
x02=[v(1,2);0;v(2,2);0] % High frequency mode initial
Condition

options=odeset('mass','M(t,y)')
[t,y]=ode113('indmot_ode',tspan,y0,options)
subplot(2,1,1)
plot(t,y(:,1))
grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('phi')

subplot(2,1,2)
plot(t,y(:,3))
grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Theta')

The above code plots the values of theta and phi with respect to time for the arbitrary
initial condition case. To plot for the initial condition case where the initial conditions are
proportional to the eigen vectors, change the variable y0 in line 6 of the code to first
x01 and then to x02.

Notice the command subplot.

subplot(m,n,p), breaks the Figure window into an m-by-n matrix of small axes and
selects the p-th axes for the current plot. The axes are counted along the top row of the
Figure window, then thesecond row, etc. For example,

subplot(2,1,1), plot(income)
subplot(2,1,2), plot(outgo)

plots income on the top half of the window and outgo on the bottom half.

From the plots it can be observed that: a) For initial condition vector that is proportional
to the eigen vectors, the response amplitudes are harmonic at their corresponding natural
frequency. b) For an arbitrary initial condition, we get a coupled response displaying
response at both the natural frequencies. The plots are attached below
46
47
48
 49

Assignment

Solve the above-derived differential equation and plot the initial response of the system
for the following initial conditions:
a) Arbitrary initial condition
b) Initial condition vector proportional to the eigen vector.
Choose l1=2m; l2=4m; m2=10Kg.

Compare the results obtained from that of the example and comment on the plots
obtained.
 50

8. Double Pendulum

Derive the governing differential equation of motion of a double pendulum. Solve the
derived differential equation and plot the values of 1 and 2 with respect to time.
Choose l1 = 1m; l2 = 1m; m1 = m2 = 5Kg. The initial conditions for 1 and 2 are 0.5233
and 0.5233 radians respectively.

1 l1, m1

2 l2 , m2

Solution

When represented in a matrix form, the differential equations of motion for the above
system is

. 2
m 2 l 2 cos( 2 1 ) 1 ( w1 w2 ) sin 1 m 2 l 2 2 sin( 2 1)
..
(m 2 m1 )l1
m l cos( ) .. .
21 2 1 m2 l 2 2 w sin m l 1 2 sin(
2 2 1 1 2 1)

MATLAB Code

These coupled second order differential equations must be converted into a vector of first
order differential equation. This step is done by the following substitutions.

1 y (1);
.
1 y (2);
2 y (3);
.
2 y (4);

Substituting the above relations in the original nonlinear differential equation, we get the
following first order differential equations,
 51

.
1 0 0 0 y (1) y (2)
0
0 m2 l 2 cos( 2 1 ) y (2) ( w1 w2 ) sin 1 m2 l 2 2 sin( 2 1 )
. . 2

(m2 m1 )l1

0 0 1 0 y. (3) y (4)
.
0 m2 l1 cos( 2 1 ) y (4) w2 sin 2 m1l1 1 sin( 2 1 )
.
0 m2 l 2 2

In this type of a problem where the coefficient matrix is a function of the states or the
variables, a separate M-file must be written which incorporates a switch/case
programming with a flag case of mass.

For example if the differential equation is of the form,

M (t, y) *y (t) = F (t, y),

then the right hand side of the above equation has to be stored in a separate m-file called
F.m. Similarly the coefficient matrix should be stored in a separate m-file named
M.m. So, when the flag is set to the default, the function F.m is called and later when
the flag is set to mass the function M.m is called.

The code with the switch/case is given below. Note that it is a function file and should be
saved as indmot_ode.m in the current directory.

function varargout=indmot_ode(t,y,flag)

switch flag
case '' %no input flag
varargout{1}=pend(t,y);
case 'mass' %flag of mass calls mass.m
varargout{1}=mass(t,y);
otherwise
error(['unknown flag ''' flag '''.']);
end

To store the right hand side of the state variable matrix form of the model, a separate
function file must be written as shown below. Note that the name of the function is FF,
so this file must be saved as FF.m.

%the following function contains the right hand side of the

%differential equation of the form
%M(t,y)*y'=F(t,y)
%i.e. it contains F(t,y).it is also stored in a separate
file named, pend.m.

function yp= pend(t,y)

 52

M1=5;
M2=5;
g=9.81;
l1=1;
l2=1;
w2=M2*9.81;
w1=M1*9.81;
yp=zeros(4,1);
yp(1)=y(2);
yp(2)=-(w1+w2)*sin(y(1))+M2*l2*(y(4)^2)*sin(y(3)-y(1));
yp(3)=y(4);
yp(4)=-w2*sin(y(3))-M2*l1*(y(2)^2)*sin(y(3)-y(1));

Similarly, to store the coefficient matrix a separate function file is written which is stored
as MM.m.

% the following function contains the mass matrix.

%it is separately stored in a file named, mass.m

function m = mass(t,y)
M1=5;
M2=5;
g=9.81;
l1=1;
l2=1;
m1=[1 0 0 0];
m2=[0 (M1+M2)*l1 0 M2*l2*cos(y(3)-y(1))];
m3=[0 0 1 0];
m4=[0 M2*l1*cos(y(3)-y(1)) 0 M2*l2];
m=[m1;m2;m3;m4];

To plot the response, the main file should call the function indmot_ode.m, which has
the switch/case programming which in turn calls the corresponding functions depending
on the value of the flag. For the main file to recognize the coefficient matrix, the
MATLAB command ODESET is used to set the mass to M (t, y).

This MATLAB code for the main file should be written in the same M-file, following the
code to solve for the eigen values and eigen vectors.

% this is the main file, which calls the equations and

solves using ode113.
%it then plots the first variable.

tspan=[0 10]
y0=[0.5233;0;0.5233;0]
 53

options=odeset('mass','M(t,y)')
[t,y]=ode113('indmot_ode',tspan,y0,options)
subplot(2,1,1)
plot(t,y(:,1))
grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Theta1')

subplot(2,1,2)
plot(t,y(:,3))
grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Theta2')

For help regarding subplot refer to the previous example or you can look in the online
help in MATLAB by typing the following statement at the command prompt.

help subplot

The plot has been attached.

54
 55

Assignment

1.) For the double pendulum problem, calculate the eigen values and eigen vectors.

2.) Solve the above-derived differential equation and plot the initial response of the
system for the following initial conditions:

a) Arbitrary initial condition

b) Initial condition vector proportional to both eigen vectors.

Choose l1 = 2m; l2 = 4m; m1 = m2 = 10Kg.

What do you infer from the plots?

 56

9. Frequency response of systems having more than one degree of freedom

Example

Consider the following system as shown in the figure below. Derive the governing
differential equation of motion and plot the amplitude and the phase of the masses m1 and
m2 with respect to the frequency. Choose m1 = 1Kg; m2 = 2Kg; k1 = k2 = 1N/m; c1 = c2 =
0.001 N sec/m. The amplitude of the excitation force vector is 1 N.

f1 f2
K1 K2

C1 M1 C2 M2

Solution

The governing differential equation of motion for the above system when written in
matrix form is given by

0 x1 (c1 c 2 ) c 2 x1 (k1 k 2 ) k 2 x1 f1 (t )
.. .
m1
0
m2 x.. c 2 c 2 x. k 2 k 2 x 2 f 2 (t )
2 2

The above equation can be written in a more simplified manner,

M xi C xi K xi f io sin t
.. .

where [M] is the inertia matrix, [C] is the damping matrix and [K] is the stiffness matrix.

Assuming the steady state solution of the differential equation to be

xiss xis sin t xic cos t

where i = 1,2.

Substituting the values of x1 and x2 and their corresponding first and second derivatives
in the original matrix differential equation results in a single matrix equation given by
 57

2 [ M ] [ K ] [C ] xic 0

[C ] [ M ] [ K ] xis f io
2

The solution of the above given matrix equation is normally given in terms of the
amplitude and the phase as defined by

1
X i ( xic xis ) 2

xic
i tan 1 ( )
xis

The mass matrix, the damping matrix and the stiffness matrix are given as below

1 0
[M ] Kg
0 2

2 1
[K ] N/m
1 1

0.002 0.001
[C ] N sec/m
0.001 0.001

The amplitude of the excitation force vector is 1 N.

MATLAB Code

The objective of the problem is to find the amplitude and phase and plot them with
respect to the excitation frequency.

The MATLAB code is attached below.

%*********************************************************%
%Defining the frequency vector and the mass matrix,
%damping matrix, the stiffness matrix and the amplitude of
%the excitation force.
%*********************************************************%

f=linspace(0,0.7,50);
m=[1 0;0 2];
k=[2 -1;-1 1];
c=[0.002 -0.001;-0.001 0.001];
fi=[1;1];
 58

%*********************************************************%
%Calculating the amplitude and the phase for each frequency
%defined by the frequency vector.
%*********************************************************%

for i = 1:50
omega(i)=2*pi*f(i); %omega in terms of frequency
omega2(i)=omega(i)*omega(i); % squaring omega
a11=-omega2(i)*m+k; % representing the left hand
a12=omega(i)*c; % matrix of the single matrix
a21=-omega(i)*c; % equation
a22=-omega2(i)*m+k;
a=[a11 a12;a21 a22];
b=inv(a);
c1=[0;0;fi];
d(1,i)=b(1,:)*c1;
d(2,i)=b(2,:)*c1;
d(3,i)=b(3,:)*c1;
d(4,i)=b(4,:)*c1;
x(1,i)=sqrt(abs(d(1,i))^2+abs(d(3,i))^2);
x(2,i)=sqrt(abs(d(2,i))^2+abs(d(4,i))^2);
p(1,i)=atan(d(1,i)/d(3,i))*180/pi;

if p(1,i)<0 % to check whether the angle is

negative or not.
p(1,i)=180+p(1,i);
else

p(1,i)=p(1,i);
end

p(2,i)=atan(d(2,i)/d(4,i))*180/pi;

if p(2,i)<0
if d(4,i)<0
p(2,i) = -180 + p(2,i)
else
p(2,i)=180+p(2,i);
end

else
p(2,i)=p(2,i);
end

end
 59

figure(1)
plot(f,x(1,:));grid
xlabel(Frequency)
ylabel(Amplitude of Mass 1)

figure(2)
plot(f,x(2,:));grid
xlabel(Frequency)
ylabel(Amplitude of Mass 2)

figure(3)
plot(f,p(1,:));grid
xlabel(Frequency)
ylabel(Phase of Mass 1)

figure(4)
plot(f,p(2,:));grid
xlabel(Frequency)
ylabel(Phase of Mass 2)

In the above code, a command linspace is used. linspace(x1, x2, N) generates a row
vector of N points between x1 and x2.

The above code calculates the amplitude and phase of each of the masses and plots them
with respect to the excitation frequency.

where x(1,:) and x(2,: ) are the amplitudes of the two masses and p(1,: ) and p(2,:) are the
respective phase difference.

The plots are attached .

60
61
 62

Assignment

Consider the system shown below.

f1 f2
K1 K2 K3

C1 M1 C2 M2 C3

Derive the governing differential equation of motion and solve for the eigen values and
the eigen vectors.

Plot the amplitude and the phase of the masses m1 and m2 with respect to the frequency
for the system shown above. Choose m1 = 1Kg; m2 = 2Kg; k1 = k2 = k3 = 1N/m; c1 = c2 =
c3 = 0.001 N sec/m. The amplitude of the excitation force vector is 2 N.

What do you infer from the plots?

 63

10. A Three Bar Linkage Problem

Example

Consider the three-bar-linkage mechanism shown below. For a constant rotation rate of
link L1, determine and plot the angular velocities and accelerations of links L2 and L3 for
one cycle of rotation of L1. Choose L1, L2 and L3 as 0.35m, 1m and 1m respectively.
Also choose a and b as 0.6m and 0.4m respectively. The angular velocity, of link
L1 is chosen to be 3 rad/sec.

L2 L3

L1
b

a

Solution

From the above figure, the geometric relations can be derived as

L1 cos L 2 cos L3 cos a
L1sin L 2 sin L3 sin b

First we have to solve for and for values of ranging from 0 to 2 given the
values of a and b. The value of alpha should be given in radians.

The MATLAB code for solving the above equation is given below.

p='cos(b)+cos(c)=0.6-0.35*cos(a)';
q='sin(b)-sin(c)=0.4-0.35*sin(a)';
[b,c]=solve(p,q)
i=1;
for a=0:0.1:6.3
beta(:,i)=subs(b)
gamma(:,i)=subs(c)
i=i+1;
end
alpha=0:0.1:6.3
figure(1)
plot(alpha,beta(1,:));grid
xlabel('alpha')
 64

ylabel('beta')
title('beta VS alpha')

figure(2)
plot(alpha,gamma(1,:));grid
xlabel('alpha')
ylabel('beta')
title('gamma VS alpha')

To know, how to use the figure command, refer to the Introduction to MATLAB
chapter. The positive values of both beat and gamma have to be plotted. This is the
reason why only the first row is used to plot the results.

To find out the angular velocities, differentiate the above two equations (geometric
relations) with respect to time and put them into matrix form. We get the following
equation.

sin L 2
.
sin sin
cos . L1
cos L3 cos

The MATLAB code to solve this equation to get the angular velocities and then plot them
with respect to is given below.

L1 = 0.35;
L2 = 1;
L3 = 1;
omega = 3;

for i=1:size(alpha,2)
A=[-L2*sin(beta(1,i)) L3*sin(gamma(1,i));
L2*cos(beta(1,i)) -L3*cos(gamma(1,i))];
B=[omega*L1*sin(alpha(i));-omega*L1*cos(alpha(i))];
C=inv(A)*B;
betadot(1,i)= C(1);
gammadot(1,i)= C(2);
end

figure(3)
plot(alpha,betadot(1,:));grid
grid
xlabel('alpha')
ylabel('beta dot')
title('betadot VS aplha')

figure(4)
 65

plot(alpha,gammadot(1,:));grid
grid
xlabel('alpha')
ylabel('gamma dot')
title('gammadot VS aplha')

In the above code A contains the coefficient matrix and B contains the RHS matrix.

To calculate the angular accelerations, the geometric relations given by the second
equation set must be differentiated to obtain the following relation,

sin L 2 f1
..
sin
cos
cos L3 .. f 2

.
.
f1 L1 2 cos L 2 2 cos L3 2 cos

f2 . 2 . 2

L1 sin L 2 sin L3 sin
2

The MATLAB code for solving this equation is given below.

for i=1:size(alpha,2)
A1=[-L2*sin(beta(1,i)) -L3*sin(gamma(1,i));
L2*cos(beta(1,i)) -L3*cos(gamma(1,i))];
B1=[omega*omega*L1*cos(alpha(i))+L2*(betadot(1,i)^2)*cos(be
ta(1,i))+L3*(gammadot(1,i)^2)*cos(gamma(1,i));...

omega*omega*L1*sin(alpha(i))+(betadot(1,i)^2)*L2*sin(beta(1
,i))-(gammadot(1,i)^2)*L3*sin(gamma(1,i))];
C2=inv(A1)*B1;
beta_accl(1,i)=C2(1);
gamma_accl(1,i)=C2(2);
end

figure(5);plot(alpha,beta_accl(1,:));grid
xlabel('alpha')
ylabel('beta acceleration')
title('beta accl VS alpha')

figure(6);plot(alpha,gamma_accl(1,:));grid
xlabel('alpha')
ylabel('gamma_accl')
title('gamma_accl VS aplha')

In the above code A1 contains the coefficient matrix and B1 contains the RHS matrix.
66
67
68
 69

Assignment

For a constant rotation rate = 4 rad/sec of link L1, determine the angular velocities and
accelerations of links L2 and L3 for one cycle of rotation of L1 for the system shown in
the above example. Choose L1, L2 and L3 as 0.5m, 1.2m and 1m respectively. Also
choose a and b as 0.7m and 0.45m respectively.

Also plot the angular velocities and the accelerations with respect to alpha.

What do you infer from the obtained?

 70

11. Slider-Crank Mechanism

Example

Consider the slider crank mechanism shown below. For constant angular velocity,
equal to 3 rad/sec of link L1, determine and S and their first and second derivatives for
one cycle of . Choose L1 as 0.5m and a as 1m.

L1 S

L2
a

Solution

From the figure, the following geometric relation can be derived,

S cos a L1cos
S sin L1sin .

These equations are nonlinear but can be readily solved for and S in terms of .

The MATLAB code for solving the above equation is given below. The values of S and
are plotted with respect to .

p='s*cos(b)=1-0.5*cos(a)'
q='s*sin(b)=0.5*sin(a)'
[b,s]=solve(p,q)

i=1;
for a=0:0.1:6.3
phi(:,i)=subs(b)
S(:,i)=subs(s)
i=i+1;
end

theta=0:0.1:6.3
figure(1)
plot(theta,S(1,:))
 71

grid
xlabel(Theta)
ylabel(S)
title(S Vs Theta)

figure(2)
plot(theta,phi(1,:))
grid
xlabel(Theta)
ylabel(Phi)
title(Phi Vs Theta)

Here notice that, a new command figure is used to plot different variables. Refer to the
Introduction to MATLAB chapter to know more about the command and how to use it.
. .
To find the angular velocity, and the linear velocity, S differentiate the above
equations once with respect to time. When written in matrix format the result is shown
below,

cos sin S sin

.

sin . L1
cos S cos

The MATLAB code is as shown below.

L1 = 0.5;
omega = 3;
for i=1:size(theta,2)
A=[cos(phi(1,i)) -S(1,i)*sin(phi(1,i));...
sin(phi(1,i)) S(1,i)*cos(phi(1,i))];
B=[L1*omega*sin(theta(i));L1*omega*cos(theta(i))];
C=inv(A)*B;
linvel(1,i) = C(1);
angvel(1,i) = C(2)
end
figure(3)
plot(theta,linvel(1,:));grid
xlabel(Theta);
ylabel(linvel);
title(Linear velocity vs Theta);

figure(4)
plot(theta,angvel(1,:));grid
xlabel(Theta)
ylabel(Angvel)
title(Angular velocity Vs Theta)
 72

.. ..
To calculate the angular acceleration, and linear acceleration, S , differentiate the last
equation with respect to time. Representing the result in matrix format gives,

. 2 . 2
sin S L1cos 2 S sin S cos
. .
cos
..

sin ..
cos S . 2 . . . 2
L1sin 2 S cos S sin

The MATLAB code for solving the above equation is given below.

L1 = 0.5;
omega = 3;

for i=1:size(theta,2)
A1=[cos(phi(1,i)) -S(1,i)*sin(phi(1,i));...
sin(phi(1,i)) S(1,i)*cos(phi(1,i))];

B1=[L1*(omega^2)*cos(theta(i))+2*linvel(1,i)*angvel(1,i)*
sin(phi(1,i))+S(1,i)*(angvel(1,i)^2)*cos(phi(1,i));...
-L1*(omega^2)*sin(theta(i))-
2*linvel(1,i)*angvel(1,i)*cos(phi(1,i))+S(1,i)*(angvel(1,
i)^2)*sin(phi(1,i))];

C2=inv(A1)*B1;
Linaccl(1,i) = C2(1);
Angaccl(1,i) = C2(2);
end

figure(5)
plot(theta,linaccl(1,:));grid
xlabel(Theta);
ylabel(linaccl);
title(Linear acceleration vs Theta);

figure(6)
plot(theta,angaccl(1,:));grid
xlabel(Theta)
ylabel(angaccl)
title(Angular acceleration Vs Theta)

The plots are attached below.

73
74
75
 76

Assignment

Consider the Geneva-wheel mechanism shown in figure 5/194 in Merriam, page 412.
Derive the governing differential equations of motion and plot the angular velocity 2.
 77

12. A Bar supported by a wire and a horizontal plane

Example

Consider the system shown below. Derive the governing model of motion and plot the
values of and with respect to time and also their first derivatives with respect to
time. Choose l, L, m and d as 1m, 1m, 5 Kg and 1.1m respectively. The initial
value of is chosen to be 0.5233 radians, whereas the initial value of is calculated
in the main code of MATLAB using the constraint equation.`

d
l,m

Solution

The model for the above system is

ml 2 l
cos ..
l 0
0 sin( ) . 2
..
ml
ml 12 2 2 w sin
cos 0 sin 1 2
2 .
2 2
. ml
ml Tc mL cos 2 cos
2 sin mL sin cos 0
l cos N . 2 . 2

L cos 0 0 L sin l sin

.
First we solve for and . Then we substitute them into the following constraint
.
equations to obtain the values of and . The constraint equations are the geometrical
relations, which can be derived from the above figure to be
. .
L cos l cos 0
d L sin l sin

The above model involves second derivatives of the variables and must be converted to
an equation involving first derivatives so that MATLAB can be used to solve the
 78

differential equation. The method employed is similar to the one followed to solve the
problem in which a bar was connected to a cord.
So with

y (1);
.
y (2);
y (3);
.
y (4);

The model becomes

.
y (2)
1 0 0 0 0 0

ml 2 l l y (1) 0
0 0 0 sin( ) cos .
0 12 2 2 y (2) y ( 4)
0 1 0 0 0 .
y (3)
2
ml .

0
ml
cos 0 0 sin 1 . w sin
2
2 y (4) . 2 . 2
ml mL cos ml cos
0 sin 0 mL sin cos 0 Tc 2
2 N
0 l cos L cos 0 . 2
L sin l sin
. 2
0 0

As mentioned earlier, since the coefficient matrix is dependent on the states or the
variables, a separate M-file has to be written which incorporates a switch/case
programming, and a separate M-file for the mass matrix must also be written.

MATLAB Code

The code with the switch/case programming is given below.

% In order to solve this type of problem, the odefile needs

% to have switch/case programming with a flag case of
% 'mass'. when the flag is set to default the function
% FF1.m is called. Later in the time step, the function
% with the flag of 'mass' is called. As you can see in the
% function indmot_ode1, when the flag is 'mass', the
% function MM1.m is called.
function varargout=indmot_ode1(t,y,flag)

switch flag
case '' %no input flag
varargout{1}=FF1(t,y);
case 'mass' %flag of mass calls MM1.m
varargout{1}=MM1(t,y);
otherwise
 79

error(['unknown flag ''' flag '''.']);

end
To store the right hand side vector of the original model, a separate function file must be
written as shown below. Note that the name of the function is FF1, so this file must be
saved as FF1.m.

%the following function contains the right hand side of the

%differential equation of the form
%M(t,y)*y'=F(t,y)
%i.e. it contains F(t,y).it is also stored in a separate
%file named, FF1.m.

function yp=FF1(t,y)
l=1;
L=1;
m=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
yp=zeros(6,1);
yp(1)=y(2);
yp(2)=0;
yp(3)=y(4);
yp(4)=-w+(m*l/2)*sin(y(1))*(y(2)^2);
yp(5)=m*L*cos(y(3))*(y(4)^2)-(m*l/2)*cos(y(1))*(y(2)^2);
yp(6)=L*sin(y(3))*(y(4)^2)+l*sin(y(1))*(y(2)^2);

Similarly, to store the coefficient matrix, a separate function file is written which is stored
as MM1.m.

% the following function contains the mass matrix.

%it is separately stored in a file named, MM1.m

function n = MM1(t,y)
l=1;
L=1;
m=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
n1=[1 0 0 0 0 0];
n2=[0 (m*l^2)/12 0 0 (-l/2)*sin(y(1)+y(3))
(l/2)*cos(y(1))];
n3=[0 0 1 0 0 0];
n4=[0 (m*l/2)*cos(y(1)) 0 0 -sin(y(3)) -1];
n5=[0 (m*l/2)*sin(y(1)) 0 -m*L*sin(y(3)) cos(y(3)) 0];
n6=[0 l*cos(y(1)) 0 L*cos(y(3)) 0 0];
n=[n1;n2;n3;n4;n5;n6];
 80

To plot the response, the main file should call the function indmot_ode1.m, which has
the switch/case programming which in turn calls the corresponding functions depending
on the value of the flag. For the main file to recognize the coefficient matrix, the
MATLAB command ODESET is used to set the mass to M (t, y).

l=1;
L=1;
m=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
d=1.1;
tspan=[0 10];
options=odeset('mass','M(t,y)');

% to calculate the initial conditions.

% Theta = 0.5233. For this value of theta
% using the constraint equation, the value
% phi has to be calculated.
theta_init = 0.5233;
phi_init = asin((d-l*sin(theta_init))/L);

y0=[theta_init;0;phi_init;0;0;0];
[t,y]=ode23('indmot_ode1',tspan,y0,options);
figure(1)
plot(t,y(:,3));grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Phi')
title('Phi Vs Time')

figure(2)
plot(t,y(:,4));grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Phidot')
title('Phidot Vs Time')

phi=y(:,3);
phidot=y(:,4);

% solving the constraint equation to get the value of phi.

for i = 1:size(phi,1)
theta(i)=asin((d-L*sin(phi(i)))/l);
end

% solving the constraint equation to get the value of

phidot.
 81

for i = 1:size(phi,1)
thetadot(i)=(L*(-phidot(i))*cos(phi(i)))/(l*cos(theta(i)));
end

t1=t';
figure(3)
plot(t1,theta);grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Theta')
title('Theta Vs Time')

figure(4)
plot(t1,thetadot);grid
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Thetadot')
title('Thetadot Vs Time')
.
Once the values of and are known, they are substituted in the constraint equation to
.
get the values of and . To know more about the figure command, either refer to
the Introduction to MATLAB chapter or go through the online help as suggested in the
previous example. The plots are attached below.
82
83
 84

13. Two bar linkage assembly supported by a pivot joint and a horizontal plane

Example

Consider the system shown below. Derive the governing model and plot the values of
and with respect to time and also their first derivatives with respect to time. Choose
l, L, m, M and d as 1m, 1.5m, 5 Kg, 5Kg and 1.2m respectively. The initial value
of is chosen to be 0.5233 radians, whereas the initial value of is calculated in the
main code of MATLAB using the constraint equation.

l,m

d
L,M

Solution

The model for the above system is

ml 2 l l l 0
0 sin cos cos ..
L
12 2 2 2 W cos
0 ML2 .. 2
L sin L cos 0 2
3 w
ml
sin
.

ml Bx 2
cos 0 0 1 1 . 2 ml . 2
2
ml B y mL cos cos
sin mL sin 1 0 0 N 2
2 . 2 . 2

l cos L cos 0 0 0 L sin l sin

.
First we solve for and . Then we substitute them into the following constraint
.
equations to obtain the values of and . The constraint equations are the geometrical
relations, which can be derived from the above figure to be
. .
L cos l cos 0
d L sin l sin
 85

The above model involves second derivatives of the variables and must be converted to
an equation involving first derivatives so that MATLAB can be used to solve the
differential equation. The method employed is similar to the one followed to solve the
problem in which a bar was connected to a cord.

So with

y (1);
.
y (2);
y (3);
.
y (4);

The above model becomes

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 . y (2)
ml 2 l l l
y (1) 0
0 0 0 sin cos cos .
0 12 2 2 2 y ( 4 )
0 1 0 0 0 0 .
y ( 2 )

L

0 ML2 W cos
0 0 L sin L cos 0 y. (3) 2
3 . 2
ml
ml y (4) w sin
0 cos 0 0 0 1 1 B 2
2
x
. 2 ml . 2

0 B y mL cos 2 cos
ml
0 sin 0 mL sin 1 0
2 N
0 . 2 . 2
0 l cos 0 L cos 0 0 L sin l sin

As mentioned earlier, since the coefficient matrix is dependent on the states or the
variables, a separate M-file has to be written which incorporates a switch/case
programming, and a separate M-file for the mass matrix must also be written.

MATLAB Code

The code with the switch/case programming is given below.

% In order to solve this type of problem, the odefile needs

% to have switch/case programming with a flag case of
% 'mass'. When the flag is set to default the function
% FF2bar1.m is called. Later in the time step, the function
% with the flag of 'mass' is called. As you can see in the
% function indmot_ode2bar1.m, when the flag is 'mass',
% the function MM2bar1.m is called.
 86

function varargout=indmot_ode2bar1(t,y,flag)

switch flag
case '' %no input flag
varargout{1}=FF2bar1(t,y);
case 'mass' %flag of mass calls mass.m
varargout{1}=MM2bar1(t,y);
otherwise
error(['unknown flag ''' flag '''.']);
end

To store the right hand side vector of the original model, a separate function file must be
written as shown below. Note that the name of the function is FF2bar1, so this file must
be saved as FF2bar1.m.

%the following function contains the right hand side of the

%differential equation of the form
%M(t,y)*y'=F(t,y)
%i.e. it contains F(t,y).it is also stored in a separate
file named, FF2bar1.m.

function yp=FF2bar1(t,y)
l=1;
L=1.5;
m=5;
M=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
W=M*g;
yp=zeros(7,1);
yp(1)=y(2);
yp(2)=0;
yp(3)=y(4);
yp(4)=(W*L*cos(y(3)))/2;
yp(5)=-w+(m*(l/2))*sin(y(1))*(y(2)^2);
yp(6)=m*L*cos(y(3))*(y(4)^2)-(m*(l/2))*cos(y(1))*(y(2)^2);
yp(7)=L*sin(y(3))*(y(4)^2)+l*sin(y(1))*(y(2)^2);

Similarly, to store the coefficient matrix a separate function file is written which is stored
as MM2bar1.m.

% the following function contains the mass matrix.

%it is separately stored in a file named, MM2bar1.m
 87

function n = MM2bar1(t,y)
l=1;
L=1.5;
m=5;
M=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
n1=[1 0 0 0 0 0 0];
n2=[0 (m*(l^2))/12 0 0 (l/2)*sin(y(1)) -(l/2)*cos(y(1))
(l/2)*cos(y(1))];
n3=[0 0 1 0 0 0 0];
n4=[0 0 0 (M*(L^2))/3 -L*sin(y(3)) -L*cos(y(3)) 0];
n5=[0 (m*(l/2))*cos(y(1)) 0 0 0 -1 -1];
n6=[0 (m*(l/2))*sin(y(1)) 0 -m*L*sin(y(3)) -1 0 0];
n7=[0 l*cos(y(1)) 0 L*cos(y(3)) 0 0 0];
n=[n1;n2;n3;n4;n5;n6;n7];

To plot the response, the main file should call the function indmot_ode1.m, which has
the switch/case programming which in turn calls the corresponding functions depending
on the value of the flag. For the main file to recognize the coefficient matrix, the
MATLAB command ODESET is used to set the mass to M (t, y).

l=1;
L=1.5;
m=5;
M=5;
g=9.81;
w=m*g;
W=M*g;
d=1.2;

tspan=[0 10];
options=odeset('mass','M(t,y)');

% to calculate the initial conditions.

% Theta = 0.5233. For this value of theta
% using the constraint equation, the value
% phi has to be calculated.
phi_init = 0.5233;
theta_init = asin((d-l*sin(phi_init))/L);

y0=[theta_init;0;phi_init;0;0;0;0]
[t,y]=ode23tb('indmot_ode2bar1',tspan,y0,options);
figure(1)
plot(t,y(:,3));grid
 88

xlabel('time')
ylabel('phi')
title('phi Vs time')

figure(2)
plot(t,y(:,4));grid
xlabel('time')
ylabel('phidot')
title('phidot Vs time')

phi=y(:,3);
phidot=y(:,4);

% solving the constraint equation to get the value of phi.

for i = 1:size(phi,1)
theta(i)=asin((d-l*sin(phi(i)))/L);
end

% solving the constraint equation to get the value of

% phidot.
for i = 1:size(phi,1)
thetadot(i)=(l*(-
phidot(i))*cos(phi(i)))/(L*cos(theta(i)));
end

t1=t';
figure(3)
plot(t1,theta);grid
xlabel('time')
ylabel('theta')
title('theta Vs time')

figure(4)
plot(t1,thetadot);grid
xlabel('time')
ylabel('thetadot')
title('thetadot Vs time')

.
Once the values of and are known, they are substituted in the constraint equation to
.
get the values of and . The plots are attached below.
89
90
 91

Assignment: Three bar linkage assembly

Consider the system shown below. Derive the governing differential equations of motion
and plot the values of 1, 2 and 3 with respect to time and also their first
derivatives with respect to time. Choose L1, L2, L3, m1, m2, m3, a and b as
0.35m, 1m, 1.2m, 5Kg, 5Kg, 6Kg, 0.6m and 0.4m respectively. The initial values of
1is chosen to be 0.1744 radians. The initial values of 2 and 3 are calculated from
the constraint equations.

L2, m2

L1, m1 L3, m3
1

a
 92

14. Valve Spring Model

Consider the following system, which has 10 blocks of equal weight that are
interconnected by springs. The objective of this exercise is to calculate the eigen values
and eigen vectors for the system defined for three different boundary conditions. The
boundary conditions are as follows.

1. Fixed at both ends

k k k
...................
m m m

2. Fixed at one end and free at the other

k k
................... f1
m m m

3. Free at both ends

f1 k f2
...................
m m m

In all the above cases, each lumped mass of the model has mass, 0.002 Kg and the
stiffness constants of the springs are chosen as 175000 N/m.

Solution

Case 1: Prescribed motion for both ends

Let x2, x3,...,x11 be the displacement of each of the blocks with respect to a reference
frame and x1 and x12 be the displacements of the end supports. The eigen values and
eigen vectors are defined for no excitation, i.e, zero motion for x1 and x12. So this implies
that both x1 and x12 are equal to zero. The equation of motion for individual masses are
..
m x 2 k ( x 2 x3 ) kx 2 kx1
..
m x 3 k ( x3 x 2 ) k ( x3 x 4 ) 0
.
..
m x11 k ( x11 x10 ) kx11 kx12
 93

If the above equations are written in the matrix format, the system equations of motion
reduce to

..
M 1 X K 1X F1

where

m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 m 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 m 0 0 0 0 0
M1
0 0 0 0 0 m 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 m 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 m 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 m 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 m

2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0
K1
0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k
 94

kx1
0

0

0
0
F1
0
0

0
0

kx12

To calculate the eigen values and eigen vectors, the right hand matrix is ignored and only
the mass and stiffness matrices are used. Hence the boundary conditions for the eigen
vectors are x1 = x12 = 0. The eig command in MATLAB is used for this purpose. To
know more about the command, go through the online help by typing the following at the
command prompt.

help eig

The square root of the eigen values gives the natural frequencies of the system.

Case 2: Prescribed motion at one end and prescribed force at the other end.

In this case, since there is support only at one end, the equation of motion for the last
block changes. The equation of motion for the 10th mass is

..
m x11 k ( x11 x10 ) f 1 (t )

This is very much similar to the equation in case 1, except that since there is a prescribed
force at the right hand instead of a prescribed motion, x12 does not appear in the equation.
Here again we assume that the end support at one end is stationary, which implies that x1
is equal to zero. The effect of this change in the equation of motion can be seen in the
stiffness matrix. Notice that the element formed due to the intersection of the 10th row
and 10th column of the stiffness matrix is half of that in the stiffness matrix of the
previous case.

The right hand side matrix for this case will be similar to that of the previous case except
that x12 will be replaced with zero. Here again the right hand matrix is ignored to
calculate the eigen values and eigen vectors. The mass matrix, the stiffness matrix and the
right hand side matrix for the case wherein one end is fixed and the other is free is given
by
 95

M 2 M1
2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0
K2
0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k k

kx1
0

0

0
0
F2
0
0

0
0

f1

The same procedure is adopted to obtain the eigen values and eigen vectors for the
system

Case 3: Applied forces at both ends

In this case, the displacements of each block with respect to a reference frame are chosen
slightly different from the previous two cases. Let x1, x2,..., x10 be the displacements of
the 10 blocks with respect to a reference frame. Since there is no support at both ends and
a prescribed force is applied at both ends, the equation of motion for the first and the last
block changes, which is given as follows.

..
m x1 k ( x1 x 2 ) f 1 (t )
..
m x10 k ( x10 x9 ) f 2 (t )
 96

This is very much similar to the equation in case 1, except that since there are no supports
at the ends, the effect of this change in the equation of motion can be seen in the stiffness
matrix. Notice that the element formed due to the intersection of the 10th row and 10th
column of the stiffness matrix and the element formed due to the intersection of the first
row and first column are half of that in the stiffness matrix of case 1.

The right had side matrix for this case will be a zero vector of size 10 x 1. The mass, the
stiffness and the right hand side matrices for the case wherein both ends are free are given
by

M 3 M1

k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0 0
K3
0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k 2k k

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k k

f1
0

0

0
0
F3
0
0

0
0

f 2

The same procedure is adopted to obtain the eigen values and eigen vectors for the
system.

The plots are attached after the MATLAB code.

 97

MATLAB Code

The MATLAB code is used to calculate the eigen values, eigen vectors and also the
natural frequencies of the system for different boundary conditions. But only the first
three mode shapes are plotted.

% The first code is for a system where both the ends are
% fixed. In the following codes 'M' is the mass matrix, 'K'
% is the stiffness matrix. 'm' is the mass of each block
% in Kgs and 'k' is the value of the stiffness constant in
% N/m. 'v' and 'd' give the eigen vectors and eigen values
% respectively.

m = 0.002;
k = 175000;

M1 = m*eye(10);
K1=k*[2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
-1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0;
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1;
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2;];

[v1,d1] = eig(K1,M1);

% This code is written to separate the natural frequencies

of the system. w_nat1 contains the natural frequencies.

cnt =1;
for i = 1:10
for j=1:10
if(i==j)
w_nat1(cnt)=sqrt(d1(i,j));
cnt = cnt +1;
end
end
end

% To plot the first three mode shapes, we need to find the

% first three eigen values.
 98

% The 'EIGS' command has been used to find the required % eigen values and the
corresponding eigen vectors. 'SM' in % the code denotes that the command should return
the first % three smallest magnitudes of the eigen values and the % corresponding eigen
vectors.

number = 3;

[vect1,lamda1]=eigs(K1,M1,number,'SM');

% Since this is for a fixed-fixed boundary condition, the

% mode shapes originate from the origin. Note that zeros
% have to be augmented on both sides of the vector.

vect_aug1 = [0 0 0;vect1;0 0 0];

% wn1 is the vector containing the first three natural

% frequencies.

wn1 = sqrt(lamda1);

c = ['m','b','r'];

figure(1)
for i=1:size(vect_aug1,2)
plot(vect_aug1(:,i),c(i))
hold on;
end

title('The mode shapes of the system with both ends fixed')

grid on
legend('I-node', 'II-node','III-node')
axis([1 12 -0.5 0.5])

%*********************************************************%
% This is the second code for a system where one end is
% fixed and the other free.
%*********************************************************%

M2 = m*eye(10);
K2 = k*[2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
-1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0;
 99

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1;
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 1;];

[v2,d2] = eig(K2,M2)

% This code is written to separate the natural frequencies

% of the system. w_nat2 contains the natural frequencies.

cnt =1;
for i = 1:10
for j=1:10
if(i==j)
w_nat2(cnt)=sqrt(d2(i,j));
cnt = cnt +1;
end
end
end

% To plot the first three mode shapes, we need to find the

% first three eigen values. The 'EIGS' command has been
% used to find the required eigen values and the
% corresponding eigen vectors. 'SM' in the code denotes
% that the command should return the first three smallest
% magnitudes of the eigen values and the corresponding
% eigen vectors.

number = 3;

[vect2,lamda2]=eigs(K2,M2,number,'SM');

% wn1 is the vector containing the first three natural

% frequencies.
wn2 = sqrt(lamda2);

% Since this is for a fixed-free boundary condition, the

% mode shapes originate from the origin. Note that zeros
% have to be augmented only on one side of the vector.

vect_aug2 = [0 0 0;vect2];

c = ['m','b','r'];

figure(2)
for i=1:size(vect_aug2,2)
plot(vect_aug2(:,i),c(i))
hold on;
 100

end

title('The mode shapes of the system with one end fixed and
the other free')
grid on
legend('I-node', 'II-node','III-node')

%*********************************************************%
% The following code is for a system where both the ends
% is free.
%*********************************************************%

M3 = m*eye(10);
K3 = k*[1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
-1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0 0;
0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1 0;
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 2 -1;
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 1;];

[v3,d3] = eig(K3,M3)

% This code is written to separate the natural frequencies

% of the system. w_nat3 contains the natural frequencies.

cnt =1;
for i = 1:10
for j=1:10
if(i==j)
w_nat3(cnt)=sqrt(d3(i,j));
cnt = cnt +1;
end
end
end

% To plot the first three mode shapes, we need to find the

% first three eigen values. The 'EIGS' command has been
% used to find the required eigen values and the
% corresponding eigen vectors. 'SM' in the code denotes
% that the command should return the first three smallest
% magnitudes of the eigen values and the corresponding
% eigen vectors.
number = 3;
 101

[vect3,lamda3]=eigs(K3,M3,number,'SM');

% wn1 is the vector containing the first three natural

% frequencies.
wn3 = sqrt(lamda3);

% Since this is for a free-free boundary condition, the

% mode shapes do not originate from the origin. Note that
% here zeros should not to be augmented to the vector.

c = ['m','b','r'];

figure(3)
for i=1:size(vect3,2)
plot(vect3(:,i),c(i))
hold on;
end

title('The mode shapes of the system with both ends free')

grid on
legend('I-node', 'II-node','III-node')
102
103
 104

Assignment

For the system shown in case (1), suppose the support at one of the end were to oscillate
harmonically, whose equation is given by

x1 F0 sin t

Calculate the amplitude and phase of each of the masses and plot the amplitude and the
phase with respect to the excitation frequency.